Hi all,

So now that I'm a graduate, and soon to be unemployed (my job finishes in a month's time), I'm planning on going away somewhere for a while. Since I never had a gap year before uni I have a good few grand stashed away and I do quite fancy putting off real advlthood for at least another 6 months or so. I've always wanted to go to the US, and now that I'm 21 I don't really have an excuse not to go - as we all know, the consumption of alcohol makes most holidays more enjoyable. Still, I have a few questions about it and hopefully you folks will be kind enough to assist:

First of all, budget. A return flight to New York will set me back about 300 quid (about 550 dollars, off the top of my head). As for getting around, I was thinking about getting a 60-day Greyhound pass, which lets you get the bus anywhere you want. That costs about 580 dollars, which is 330 quid or thereabouts - wondering if there's any other way of getting around (aside from hitchhiking) that'd be any cheaper? I'd also love to go to Hawaii, and flights would set me back 150 dollars each way. I've set aside 1000 quid for travel which I think should cover me nicely.

Most importantly though - is it possible to live relatively comfortably (by that I mean staying in hostels, eating well enough and having enough spare for a few beers) on 50 dollars a day? Most hostels I've looked at are around the 20 dollar mark for a night, so is 30 enough for everything else?

As for places I want to go - the route was roughly New York, DC, Columbia (got a friend there so I can stay at the university for free), Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Phoenix, Vegas, LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Hawaii.... then I don't know. Any other cities that are really worth seeing? I've toyed with the idea of flying back from San Francisco, but I'm sure you can all tell me what I've missed out. Any suggestions are more than welcome.

Lastly, I was planning on going at the start of April. This won't clash with any public holidays or anything will it? If so I'm sure flights would be more expensive.

Any advice on this would definitely be appreciated, and if anyone wants to give me a sofa to sleep on.... :tongue:

Cheers

A couple notes:

The east and west coast dollars don't buy as much as the middle of the US dollar does. In other words, beware of cost of living where you go (cheaper in the heartland)

There are hostles around, but I'm ot sure of the networks.

Also, are you handy? Depending on how you go, or wehre you plan on staying, fixing, cleaning, cooking etc. might ameliorate some costs. There might be some networks for such traveling as well, perhaps in the backpacking theme

Finally, America is more than urban centers :nod: Especially if you're busing, you'll have access to more than just metropolitain USA. To some extent, trains as well. I'm not sure of the price, but perhaps the Empire Builder to cross the county's heartland. It might be faster than a bus.

Also, there are some ideas in this thread:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1144861-driving-through-the-us/

Have you considered couchsurfing?

Also, if you have friends in the US, I'm sure they could put you up for one night at least. Try asking around on social networking sites.

Don't forget to tip.

finding a hotel for $20 is kinda hard unless you want to end up staying in a shack behind someones house... most hotels that are clean enough to live in here are about $35 a night and for food if you eat out it would be roughly about $10 for a meal if you didnt go to a steak house or something then your looking at around $15 a meal. So i suggest that you save up enough for around $70-75 a day since you want to get some booze also.

Also you every think about heading down to Florida? It's really nice down here in the spring and summer, some places you might want to check out are St. Augustine, Miami, Panama City Beach, Gainesville has some awesome night life since its a college town. Lots of bars and places with live musicians and that kind of stuff.

I was planning on staying mostly in cities, to be honest, because I won't be driving. Most of the places I'd love to see (national parks etc) seem to be much easier to access by car.

And yeah I was planning on staying in hostels, most of which have their own kitchen, so cooking my own meals can save a few quid for sure.



Got a friend living in Florida so I can stay there for free. From what I've read it's pretty well connected by bus as well so it's not as out of the way as it looks. I'll give it some thought.

My US experience is limited, as I have only stayed in the SF Bay Area so far, but I very much doubt you can find even a hostel for $20/day in San Francisco. Also, while Greyhounds can take you between cities, you'll still need to consider public transit expenses within and around each city. And keep in mind that at least in some major cities, the transit systems themselves are very underdeveloped in comparison to Europe.

Since it's not a complete typo, I can't make a joke about "hostiles."

As far as HOSTELS are concerned, there are not a lot in the USA. I bookmarked http://www.hostelhandbook.com/ for an index of known ones. As you will see, most all of them are centered around popular towns....expecting one at every possible stay across the US isn't that likely, but if you have a netbook or go online regularly, there are a lot of low-cost motels that aren't much more than a hostel would charge for a night.

Since it's not a complete typo, I can't make a joke about "hostiles."

As far as HOSTELS are concerned, there are not a lot in the USA. I bookmarked http://www.hostelhandbook.com/ for an index of known ones. As you will see, most all of them are centered around popular towns....expecting one at every possible stay across the US isn't that likely, but if you have a netbook or go online regularly, there are a lot of low-cost motels that aren't much more than a hostel would charge for a night.

Nice double post d'oh! and he talks about my spelling hmmf!

Or, if you plan your route early enough, try to contact some of the local restaurants or hang-outs in the small communties. They might be able to point you in a cheap direction as well. Also look at some backpacking websites. I have a friend who backpacked nearly across the country; he arranged for people (strangers) to put him up for a night. I think there are networks for this as well. If you're going Greyhound, you might hit some small towns where this could happen.

Sorry about the double-post...can't find a "delete" button.

I do like hotels.com as a way to find out what the cheapest rate is in an area I'm looking to stop at. There is also http://momandpopmotels.com which lists motels (often the cheaper places to stay), but I've had mixed results in how much cheaper they are.